


Blood Drops

by GWritesNovels



Category: Defiance (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Castithan(s), F/M, Gen, Irathient(s), Votans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 03:57:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14096709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GWritesNovels/pseuds/GWritesNovels
Summary: Everything Irisa Nolan has been through in the past couple of years has begun taking a serious toll on her. She no longer has the will to fight. But Irzu is finally gone.Or so she thinks.But one night, a bloody, dying girl makes her way into Niles Pottinger's house and begins calling to her before hiding in plain sight and forcing Irisa to run away.Not to mention that a stranger named Soph shows up the night of the disappearance, which rings the warning bells a little.Now, Nolan and his team must hunt down Irisa and bring her home to Defiance. Because on the last day of the year, the guilt will consume them all if they don't.





	1. Irzu

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for a friend three years ago and somehow turned into this.

The girl was dying.

   She could feel it in every shaky breath she took, every trembling beat of her heart. Both were giving out, and she knew that the end would come if she didn't hurry up and do something about it.

   But how could she? She barely had the strength to crawl, let alone bind herself again, change into something else. It had already taken a lot of work to fill this new permanent form. Drinking the other girl's blood was almost not worth the smackdown that ensued.

   The blood was rising in her throat. Normally, she could tell if the blood was her own or if it was the blood of the person she had taken the place of. This time, though, they were mixed. Too mixed for her to tell. The evil within her was combining with the evil that she stole. She could tell that much.

   She saw the shape of a building in the distance. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. She would not die tonight. She would not be considered a coward by her kind. She could keep fighting, keep living. The end had not arrived for her yet.

   When she was close enough to the building, she rose to her feet, keeping one bloody, shaky hand on her stomach. She wanted to cover the slit in her neck as well, but she had to open the door. Besides, the large gash in her stomach was more concerning.

   She didn't have the energy to meld into the door like she normally would, so she just settled for using her charge blade to pick the lock and walk in.

   The house was quite large and very clean. The walls were a beautiful marble color, very elegant. The floors were tile, no tracks on them at all. No shoes or clothes were strewn about the floor, either.

   Does anyone even live here? she thought.

   Her bare feet made no sound against the cool floor as she padded through the house, looking for the perfect object to meld into. There were quite a few things she'd definitely consider if she wasn't knocking on death's door. The refrigerator would've been a great option, but she wasn't even going to think about risking it.

   She came to a half-open door and pushed it the rest of the way, hoping that it wouldn't creak. Luckily it didn't, and she stepped in.

   Someone did live here. She could see him in his bed. A shirtless man in a nice pair of Earth Republic-issue jeans was lying there, sleeping peacefully. She could tell that he hadn't been resting for long by the way his neatly slicked-back hair was still mostly fixed. She hoped that he'd stay asleep for this.

   She looked around the room, her eyes landing on a red kilt in the middle of the floor. It was dark red, the perfect color in case she accidentally got blood on it.

   Slowly, she crossed the room and knelt down next to the kilt, watching as a drop of her blood hit it. It would be easier to change now with something from her new DNA binding her to the object.

   This was going to hurt the man in the morning when it touched his skin, but she knew what she had to do.

   She knelt down and touched the bloodstain, feeling her stomach lurch as she shifted positions. A bit more blood made its way up her esophagus as she looked down at the kilt. 

   Then she laid down on the floor, waiting for the transformation and hoping that she still had the energy to do it.

   Quietly sighing and hoping that this wouldn't be for the last time, Irzu closed her eyes.


	2. Something Isn't Right Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Pottinger wakes up to find something highly unsettling.

From the moment he woke up, Niles Pottinger knew that something wasn't right. He didn't know what it was, nor how or why, but he just had a nagging feeling in his stomach that something would go terribly wrong by the end of the day.

   He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. Maybe the feeling would go away if he just made sure that everything was in place. Stretching, he rose to his feet and headed out of his bedroom. He never noticed the lone drop of blood right next to the foot of his bed.

   The hallway was clear, as was every single one of the other rooms in the house. He checked them over carefully once, twice, thrice. Everything was in the right place, exactly how he'd left it the night before.

   He reentered his bedroom, noticing that his pants had become wrinkled during the night. He shook his head and began applying lotion to his hands and before slipping on his gloves. Then he looked down at the outfit he'd chosen for the day. Since he wasn't going out at all today, he had selected something casual: a plain grey t-shirt and a red kilt.

   The kilt was a joke at first, given to him by the Earth Republic. They were sure that he would never wear it, but he wanted to prove them wrong.

   As long as no one was around to see him doing it, of course. That would be terribly embarrassing.

   He picked up the grey shirt from the ground, cursing himself for moving around so much in his sleep. Then he gently wiped it off and slipped the shirt over his head. Finally, he picked up the kilt.

   He could not believe he was actually doing this.

   Trying to keep himself from having second thoughts, he turned it over and closed his eyes.

   He would prove them wrong.

   He opened his eyes again and stared at the back of the piece of clothing, feeling his stomach drop.

   Something was definitely wrong here.


	3. Irisa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Irisa dreams of Irzu once again.

December 31, 2047, was the day she was going to die.

   She didn't understand how she knew this date, but it was frightening to her.

   Even more frightening was the girl in front of her. She was so familiar. Then it hit her: She was once the younger girl, but not anymore. Age had caught up to her, and now they were exactly the same.

   Not only had Irzu become the same age, she was the exact height and weight. She had developed the same features and bone structure. She wore the exact same clothing.

   Blood red snow fell around the two Irathient women as they glared at each other. All of the blood in the snow began to sicken her as she stared at Irzu, who was now beginning to grin.

   "They're all going to die, you know," said Irzu. "And it's because of you that they will. Why won't you just accept the fact that you were meant to do this, Devouring Mother? Angel of Death?"

   "Because I'm not," she spat back.

   "Oh, but you are. Do those people mean anything to you down there? People you've never even met? New York didn't deserve that mercy. Defiance didn't deserve that mercy. No place deserves that mercy." Irzu paused and smiled coldly. "Tommy definitely didn't deserve it, so that's why he didn't get it."

   This really set her off. She pulled out her knife, but Irzu just smiled wider. "What are you going to do? Kill me just like you did to him? Stab me until I bleed out? That was cruel what you did to him. You left him to suffer, to die. And he'll probably never forgive you for what you have done." The false god smiled coldly and nodded to a place behind her. As she turned to look, she was horrified.

   There stood Tommy, a shocked expression on his face as his knees buckled and he fell to the ground, blood pouring from his body to match the red snow, staining it a darker shade of crimson. She wanted to run to him, but an invisible force held her back.

   "Now," continued Irzu as Tommy's body faded away, "I need you to find me."

   "And what if I don't?" she snapped.

   "Then everyone else you love, everyone even associated with you, will die a slow, painful death. Their blood will join his. The choice is yours. Either you find me and do as I say, or they die. But always remember: no matter what you choose, the guilt will always consume you, Little Wolf."

   Irisa woke up in the floor, covered in sweat. It was all a dream. She sat up, looking around. Then the door swung open and Nolan ran in, gun in hand and looking around frantically. When he saw no one, he knelt down next to his daughter. "Nightmares again?"

   "Yeah. What's with the gun?"

   "It's just been a while. I thought there might be intruders or something," he shrugged, moving to sit down next to her. She scooted away. She had no idea what she might dream of, what she might say, what she might do in her sleep. She didn't want Nolan to see any of that. He didn't need anything else on his plate at the moment, not after just coming home.

   "I'm fine, Nolan. Really," she added when he shot her a skeptical look. "It was one nightmare."

   "Yeah," he said, getting back up. Irisa knew immediately that he knew of something she did not. It was in the way he said the word, the way he slowly and sadly got up, the way he patted her on the back and said, "Sleep well, kid," before striding back over to the door. She had to know.

   "Nolan!" she called right as he exited the room. He turned back to her and leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest. Before Irisa could get her question out, Nolan sighed and looked at the ground. He knew her question; it was probably written all over her face. Finally, he looked up, a somber expression on his face.

   "You called his name in your sleep."

   The air in the room felt like lead as a heavy silence hung between them. Irisa was worried that he wasn't telling the whole truth. It was already bad enough that Nolan had heard her calling her dead boyfriend's name. She couldn't imagine how bad it would be if he heard her snapping at Irzu.

   With another sigh, Nolan turned around and exited the room, flipping off the light.

   Irisa laid back and closed her eyes, but she didn't sleep.


	4. New Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a stranger shows up around midnight.

The roller pulled up to Defiance at about four in the morning. The woman stepped out of the vehicle, surveying the town. The buildings were all dark, everyone probably asleep in their homes. The only light came from streetlamps and neon signs, eerily illuminating the sidewalks. The sign in front of her stated that she was at the Need/Want. By the way it looked, it was a bar or something. Something she'd avoid.

   All of a sudden, she saw a dark figure beginning to stroll towards her, seeming to come from nowhere. Without thinking, she pulled the pistol from her boot and aimed.

   "Drop your weapon," the figure commanded in a gruff voice, drawing a gun of his own. She was sure he was male now by the voice. Sure enough, a man emerged into the dim light. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties at the least and early forties at the most. He had short brown hair and a goatee. He was pretty tall. Pretty attractive, too, she had to admit to herself. And he was holding a gun right against her head.

   "Drop your weapon," he repeated. She obeyed quickly, then held her hands up in a surrender. "What are you doing here?" He still hadn't lowered the gun.

   "I'd heard about this town and decided to give it a try. A friend is expecting me," she shrugged.

   "Do you have any other weapons?"

   "No," she said, but he was already patting her down. When he was finished and found nothing, he stood up and spoke again, his voice a little less threatening this time.

   "What's your name?"

   "Soph," she responded.

   "Is that short for Sophie or Sophia or something?"

   "No. Some scumbag broke into the hospital and started shooting up the place. Got my dad in the arm while he was filling out my information, in the middle of writing my name. He never got to finish it. So my name is literally Soph."

   "Ah," the man said, sticking out his hand. Soph took it. "I'm Nolan, and I'm the town's Lawkeeper." His voice had considerably softened since he first spoke to her.

   "Nice to meet you, Nolan," Soph smiled. He smiled back a little.

   "I'll give you a tour of the town in the morning, or get my daughter to do it. Do you have a place to go?"

   "Yeah," Soph nodded. All of a sudden, her phone buzzed. It was a text. "Nope," she sighed, reading it. "My host's cousin got arrested again and she has to go bail her out."

   Nolan appeared to consider something for a moment. Then he looked down at Soph. "You could come to my office and stay for a little while. I don't have anything exactly cozy, but there's a mattress and blankets in the back room, just until you can find a place to stay."

   "Thank you," said Soph gratefully. Nolan nodded and beckoned to her before walking down the street. She followed him quickly, wondering if he actually trusted her. She also wondered if she could actually trust him.

   They walked in silence for a few more minutes, and then they stopped. Well, Nolan stopped. Soph didn't notice and ran right into him. She backed away, apologizing quickly to him. Then she saw why he stopped.

   A woman was walking towards them. When she walked under a streetlight, Soph was finally able to get a good look at her. She was blonde and dressed in all black, her shoes slightly clacking against the sidewalk. Her hair was pulled into a sidebraid, swinging across her shoulder as she walked. Finally, she stopped in front of them.

   "I went by your house and dropped off those papers," she said, looking at Nolan. Then she bit her lip. "But..." She tried to continue. She couldn't.

   "What is it, Amanda?" asked Nolan. Soph could see the concern beginning to seep into his eyes.

   Amanda took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Irisa's gone."


	5. Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Irisa must find out where Irzu wants her to go.

Pottinger kept staring at the kilt in horrified fascination as dark crimson liquid flowed from it and dripped onto his hands. There were no words to explain how strange this occurrence was. Though he had seen many strange things in his lifetime, this had to be one of the strangest. But suddenly, there was something else.

   The liquid was dripping all over his clothing, but he wasn't paying attention now. Something was flashing before his eyes, some type of message, but he couldn't make it out. It kept flashing, embedding itself into his brain and behind his eyelids, something in the Irathient language, but it was flitting by too fast to read.

   Then he saw it.

   The guilt will forever consume you, Little Wolf.

   As he looked up, he realized that someone else was in the room with him. A shadowy figure was standing in the corner, hunched over and breathing heavily. It was a small, petite figure. In its hand was a knife. Finally, after a few moments of him staring at it, the figure stepped into the light.

   Irisa.

   Her breath was shaking, and so was the hand that was tightly clutching her knife. Her long, red hair was disheveled and caked in mud. Her face was covered in dirt and blood, her eyes wild. When she took another step, Pottinger noticed that she was limping, blood running down her leg.

   What had happened to her?

   He moved to get up, to help her, but she stopped him by holding up the knife. "Don't move," she whispered, "and I won't have to hurt you." Pottinger froze, wondering where this had come from. Irisa was usually a gentle girl. Of course, she had once been the fiery, hard-headed kid that was never afraid to put up a fight, but things had changed after Tommy died.

   What was going on that had made her revert back to this?

   Irisa kept walking towards him, never once lowering her knife. Pottinger's heart began racing as he realized that she was probably going to kill him.

   "Drop the knife. That is not necessary," he said, trying to put as much authority into his voice as he could muster. But he could hear the fear in it. If he could hear the fear, then Irisa definitely could.

   "Stop talking." Normally, Pottinger would come up with a snarky remark to fire back with. Normally, he wouldn't care about the fact that someone had snuck into his room and was about two seconds away from stabbing him to death. He was Niles Pottinger, and he normally wasn't afraid to laugh in the face of danger.

   But something about the dirty, ragged-looking, blood-covered girl unnerved him to the core.

   So he stayed silent.

   Slowly, she kept walking until she was finally standing right over him. He could hear her lungs rattling as she inhaled. He swallowed carefully as she reached out and snatched the fabric from his hands.

   The second that the kilt touched her skin, she dropped to her knees, her face frozen in a silent scream of agony. But when Pottinger moved to help her, she began slashing wildly with her knife, catching him in the arm and the ankle. He yanked them out of the way and watched as Irisa kept writhing slowly, her eyes shut tightly. Finally, they snapped open again.

   She pushed herself off of the floor and threw open the window, jumping through it.

   Pottinger slowly got off of the bed, still cautious. He didn't know why. Then he closed the window, his hands shaking.

   An announcement suddenly erupted through the town, making him jump and catch his attention. Amanda's voice rang out, making him smile a little. Then he realized exactly what she was saying.

   "Attention, everyone. Irisa Nolan has gone missing. Right now, we don't know if it is because of a kidnapping or out of her own volition. If you know anything about her whereabouts, please inform us. There will be a large reward offered for anyone who can bring her back safely."

                                                                                           ~ ~ ~ 

Irisa couldn't help but roll her eyes as the announcement boomed throughout the town. There was no doubt that Nolan had put Amanda up to doing that. What he didn't understand was that she wasn't a kid anymore. She was a grown woman, a legal adult, and she could make her own choices.

   The other thing that she knew he didn't understand was the fact that she was saving all of their lives by trying to give her own. She knew what could happen if she didn't. Last time, New York was almost destroyed. She couldn't get anywhere near that point again.

   The jagged handwriting from the kilt kept flashing through her mind. Finally, it got to the point where she would have to stop running so that she wouldn't hit a tree or trip or anything.

   Finally, she reached the outside of the town. Her chest was heaving as she turned back to look at it for the last time. She wasn't coming back. She could never see her father again, never babysit Luke, never speak with Alak anymore. It would all end when she kept running.

   Irisa had finally come to terms with the fact that she had to die.

   Though she wasn't exactly thrilled about it, she knew she'd have to. Everything with Irzu could finally end. Her father wouldn't be in any danger, and neither would the town. She would no longer be the Devouring Mother, never have to kill anyone else. She wouldn't have to watch Tommy die anymore.

   Instead, there was a chance that she could join him.

   With that thought, the ends of her mouth quirked up into a small smile, and she kept running.

                                                                                            ~ ~ ~

Irzu watched as the girl ran, wondering what was going on in her head. Though she wasn't completely sure, she had an idea. It was probably something about the dead boy. It always was.

   She was probably willing to end her guilt to save the world and join him.

   For a moment, Irzu was tempted to just kill Irisa, get it over with. But then she realized that she was becoming humane again, and that she didn't need to do that.

   She looked back at the girl, who still ran. She was extremely eager for death.

   It was such a shame that Irzu wasn't planning to kill her yet.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're still here, thank you for reading!


End file.
